Speed indicator



Patented Sept. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES ARCHIE ID. STANIDEFORD, 0F KANfiAS CITY, MISSOURI.

SPEED INDICATOR.

Application filed October 17, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARUHIE D. STANPE- FORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Speed Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

In theatres where moving pictures are displayed it is the practice to adopt a timetable setting forth the time that each exhibition is to begin and end, but owing to variations in the length of films it is difficult to follow the schedule adopted and the result is that few exhibitions terminate on the time specified. This is an annoyance to the spectators as well as to the projection machine operator and others connected with the theatre, especially where exhibitions follow each other with but short intermissions.

The annoyance above referred to can be readily eliminated by the use of my inven tion whereby the speed at which a film is being displayed may .be determined. If it is seen that the speed is such that the film will not be run through the projection machine in the specified time, the speed of the motor of said'projection machine can be increased or decreased as the case may be to obtain the correct speed.

In order thatthe invention may be fully understood, reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

vention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line TT-TT of Fig. 1.. V

Referring now in detail to the various parts, 1 designates a frame of suitable form which is provided with a pair of parallel rails 2 upon which a carriage 3 is operablymounted. The, carriage 3 consists of twoyokes r and a sleeve 5 which latter'is slidably and rockably mounted upon one of the rails 2. Each yoke 4 is fixed at one end to the sleeve 5 and provided at its opposite end with a slot 6, so that it may be raised from or lowered to the adjacent rail 2. A latch 7 mounted in one of the yokes at forms a convenient means for sliding the carriage 3 upon the rails 2 or raising it from one of said rails, and when the carriage 3 is low cred said latch 7 engages under the adjacent rail 2 to hold the carriage down.

8 designates a shaft which is journaled in the carriage 3 and provided with a group Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the in- Serial No. 508,142.

of fixedly mounted selective gear wheels 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 90, and 110. The number of gear wheels in said group may be increased or diminished according to the capacity of the machine desired. As shown on Fig. 1, the gear wheels gradually increase in diameter from the gear wheel 45 to the gear Wheel 110, inclusive, giving the group the general appearance of a truncated cone.

The shaft 8 is arranged at such an angle to the rails 2 that the lower margins of the gear wheel 45 to 110, inclusive, are on a plane parallel to said rails 2, so that any of the gear wheels in the group may be shifted into mesh with a drive worm 9 b raising the slotted portions 6 of the carriage from one of the rails 2 and sliding said carriage on the other rail 2.:

The frame 1 is provided with a fixedly mounted scale 10 having notches 4x5 to 110, inclusive, adapted to receive a detent 11 fixed to t e adjacent end of the carriage 3. The notches in the scale 10 designate the values of the gear wheels in the group and are spaced apart in proper relation to said gear wheels 4:5 to 110, inclusive, so that when any one of said gear wheels is adusted into mesh with the worm or driver 9, the detent 11 will fall into the respective notch when the slotted portions 6 of the carriage are lowered over the adjacent rail lift 2 and thus'secure said carriage 3 from acci I dental movement.

The worm shaft 12 is journaled in a hearing 13 and provided with clutch members 14 and 15 adapted to be driven by clutch members 16 and 17, journaled in bearings 18 and in which the respective ends of the shaft l2 are loosely mounted. The clutch member 16 is adapted to be driven by a mo tion picture projection machine in the present instance through a train com rising a sprocket wheel 19 engaging the lm A, a pinion 20, a gear wheel 21, a shaft 22, a flexible shaft 23, a shaft 24 and a pin 25 pro ecting from said shaft 24 through an oblique The clutch member U is adapted to be driven from another projection machine through a similar train to that em loyed to drive the clutch member 16, as indicated by corresponding reference characters with exponents a.

27 designates a speed indicator which has a face 28 containing scales 27 and 28 sim slot 26 in the clutch member 16.

ilar to a clock for indicating seconds, minutes and hours. Said time indicator 27 also has a second hand 29 to travel over the scale 27, and minute and hour hands 30 and 31, respectively to travel over the scale 28. The hands 29, 30 and 31 are driven by a train of gearing 32, so proportioned that during each .revolution of the second hand 29, the minute hand 30 will move through a space of one minute, while the hour hand 31 will move through a space of one hour during each revolution of the minute hand 30, the ratio being the same as that of an ordinary clock. The 'stafi 32, upon which the second hand 29 is fixed is driven from the shaft 8,]oy a flexible shaft 33.

Other speed indicators such as 34 may be distributed at convenient points in the theatre and electrically operated as follows:

Each speed indicator 34 is rovided with a train 35 proportioned to drive the hands in a circuit consisting of 'films are known to unison with the hands of the time indicator 27. The train 35 includes a ratchet wheel 36, which is actuated step by step by a pawl 37, pivotally connected to a lever 37 provided with an armature 37 adjacent to which an electromagnet B is arranged. The lever 37 B has a counterweight 37, which restores said lever to the position disclosed by Fig. 2, when the electroma net B is deenergized. The electromagnet 'is connected to wires O, a battery F,

a toothed rotary contact 38, fixed on the shaft 8, a contact 39 pivoted to the carriage 3, and a brush 38 bearing upon the hub 39 of the rotary contact 38.

The shaft 12 is arranged to be driven independently of the projecting machines when it is desired to quickly set the indicators 27 and 34, on the time an exhibition is to begin, b a motor 40 through the intermediacy of a worm gear 41 fixed to the motor shaft, and a worm wheel 42, fixedlymounted upon the shaft 12. The motor 40 is rockably mounted in a support 40, so that it will normally hold the worm 41 out of mesh with the worm wheel 42. I

The clock D is laced beside the speed indicator 27, as in t e operation of the device it is of course desirable to have the hands of the speed indicator driven in unison with the hands of the clock and thus correctly indicate the speed at which the films A and A"v are being run through the respective projection machines.

In practice the length of the different the operator and hence when he wishes to have a film travel at the 'rate of say forty-five feet per minute he moves the carriage 3 with the detent 11 to the left and drops the latter into the notch marked 45 on the scale 10. This adjusts the small ear 45 into mesh with the worm 9. One of the projection machines, say the one containing the film A, is then started and reserve through the intermediacy of the intervening gearing drives the hands on the speed indicators 27 and 34. Should said'hands fall behind the corresponding hands on the clock D the motor (not shown) which drives the film A is speeded up until the hands of the indicators 27 and 34 and the clock B move in unison. If the hands of the indicators travel too fast the film-driving motor is reduced in speed accordingly. Should the operator desire to have the film A driven at the rate of one hundred and ten feet per minute, the carriage 3 and the detent 11 are shifted to the right, Fig. 1, to adjust the gear 110 into mesh with the worm 9 where it is retained by dropping the detent 11 into the notch marked 110 on the scale 10. The film-driving motor is then speeded up until the hands of the indicators 25 and 34 travel in unison with the hands of the clock B. Other film speeds may 'be readily determined by adjusting the proper gear wheels on the shaft 8 into mesh with the worm 9.

When the shaft 8 is driven through the intermeshing of any of its gears with the worm 9, the toothed rotary contact 38 rotates with said shaft 8, and coacts with the contact 39 in'intermittently closing the circuit O as each tooth on said rotary contact 38 engages the contact 39. As the circuit C is thus intermittently closed, the electromagnet B is correspondingly energized and on attracting the armature 37 moves the ratchet wheel 36 one step through the intermediacy of the lever 37 a and the pawl 37. Each time the circuit C is interrupted the pawl 37 is carried forward into engagement with the succeeding tooth of the ratchet wheel 36 throughthe intermediacy of the counterweight 37 fixedupon the lever 37. When an intermission between exhibits is reached the operator may quickly set the speed indicators 27 and 34 for the next ex hibition by rocking the motor '40 to ad'ust the worm 41 into mesh with the worm w eel 42, and then running the motor 40 until the hands of the indicators 27 and 34, reach the desired points on the respective scales.

From the foregoing description it will be readily understood that by properly proportioning the gearing of the device and providing a row of selective gears 45 to 110 inclusive, associated with the scale 10, sai device will enable an operator to quickly and accurately adjust the film speed of a projection machine, so that a film of known length can be run.

machine within a given period of time.

preferred embodiment of my invention, I the right to make such changes in the combination, arrangement, and proportion of parts as properly fall within the spirit and scope of'the ap nded claims.

. Having thus described my invention,

through said projection what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a machine of the character described, a carriage having a journaled shaft, a group of gear wheels fixedly mounted upon said shaft and which increase in diameter from one end of the group to the other, a pair of parallel rails upon which said carriage is slidably and rockably mounted, and a driver into which any of said group of wheels may be meshed by rocking and sliding the carriage upon said rails.

2. In a machine of the character described, a carriage having a 'ournaled shaft, a group of gear wheels fixe ly mounted upon said shaft and which increasein diameter from one end of the group to the other, a pair of parallel rails upon which said carriage is slidably and rockably mounted, a driver into which any of said group of wheels may be meshed by rocking and sliding the carriage upon said rails, a scale fixed to one of the rails and havlng notches spaced apart and correspondin to the spacing of the difi'erent gear w eels of the group, and a detent ada ted to engage any of the notches of the sea e and mounted on the carriage to hold any of the group of gears in mesh with said driver.

3. In a machine of the character described, a carriage having a journaled shaft,

- a group of gear wheels fixedly mounted upon said shaft and which increase in diameter from one end of the group to the other, a pair of parallel rails upon which said carriage is slidably and rockably mounted, a driver into which any of said group fof wheels may be meshed by rocking and sliding the carriage upon said rails, and a speed indicator driven from the shaft upon which the group of gear wheels is fixedly mounted.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ARCHIE D. STANDEFORD. 

